FAMILY LAW DAILY NEWS

Hundreds of Utahns will not get searching, fishing licenses due to unpaid baby help

SALT LAKE CITY – The letter is reaching post boxes across Utah.

“This notice is intended to inform you that, according to the Office of Recovery Services (ORS) records, you currently have maintenance arrears in excess of $ 2,500,” it reads, then warns that under a new Utah law, “you have no claim.” “to obtain or attempt to obtain a license, permit or mark for hunting or fishing …”

A law passed by the Utah State Legislature last year goes into effect July 1st. Thousands of child support sinners could be denied hunting or fishing licenses because they owe more than $ 2,500 in unpaid child support.

“These children are in need of child support,” said Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield Rep. Who endorsed the law.

The state tries to notify people before they buy a hunting or fishing license and get refused.

“We want people to know before it goes into effect so they can try to correct it,” said Faith Heaton Jolley, a spokeswoman for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

Utah’s Office of Recovery Services this week mailed the letters to 19,062 people who were found to be behind on child support. Of these, 9,454 people are in the databases of both agencies, so they have acquired a hunting or fishing license in the past.

But unless they currently have child support or are actively paying, they will be denied approval that year.

“We don’t want to deny these licenses. We want child benefit compliance. We hope this gets their attention; they come in and make the payment arrangements, keep those payment arrangements and we never accept their license,” Liesa Stockdale, director of the Utah Office of Recovery Services said in an interview with FOX 13.

The agency currently estimates it has more than $ 377 million in maintenance arrears that go back decades. The new law could cost Utah’s wildlife resources department more than $ 440,000 in lost hunting and fishing licenses. (However, Jolley said that with a record number of tags purchased last year, they don’t expect any significant loss, if any.)

If someone pays in full or is in the process of making payments, they may still be able to obtain a hunting or fishing license. You need to contact the Utah Office of Recovery Services.

“You basically have to pay for this plan for a full 12 months before you’re eligible for a hunting or fishing license,” Jolley said.

MP Lisonbee said she has heard from voters angry and excited about the new law. She remembered a man who called her upset about his inability to get a hunting license that year and explained that “child support is socialism”.

“I reminded him that as Republicans we believe that personal responsibility is one of the most important principles we act by and that part of personal responsibility is taking care of our children,” she said.

But Rep Lisonbee said she heard from some happy parents too.

“I’ve heard from several women who say, ‘I got my first child support in years and the only thing I can put down to it is your bill,'” she said.

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